University of Baltimore
Merrick School of Business

INSS315 - Information Technology
Fall 2008

PCs were introduced over twenty years ago and are now a commodity. PCs are shipped to end users with little, or no, documentation for as little as $300. Most organizations restrict to the minimum what the users can setup in their PCs, for security an maintenance reasons. The rhythm of technology innovation has not slowed, however. Therefore, there is a pressing need to provide high quality PC systems support for end-users. The aim of this course is to provide an advanced foundation in information technology (IT) capable of enabling students to support PC users in selecting, acquiring, customizing, optimizing, maintaining and upgrading their PC hardware and system software.

Excellence in PC systems support cannot be achieved in only one course. Students coming to this course should have basic knowledge of computer concepts and applications, including programming, data base management systems, telecommunications, operating systems, etc. This course will provide state-of-the-art knowledge on PC systems support, and will develop analytical skills, as a foundation for life-long learning on PC systems support, through the use of diagnostic and troubleshooting tools and techniques.

Learning teamwork is an integral part of the course. No IT professional works all by him/ herself. On the contrary, she/he works constantly interfacing with users and other IT professionals. In this course, all assignments, but the final exam, are to be done in groups of 3  students. The ability to communicate verbally and orally is also a must for an IT professional. The groups will write reports and make presentations on topics not covered by the lectures, and on their experiential, practical projects.

Understanding professional and ethical standards in PC systems support is a key component of the course. It is estimated that the software industry loses more than twenty billion dollars a year because of software "piracy" -- unauthorized copies of software. Since the Fall of 1992, violating copyright law is a felony (criminal justice case), not simply a civil justice case. An IT professional, specially working in PC systems support, should know and guarantee that business organizations, end-users and her/himself follow copyright laws, and stand for the highest levels of professionalism in the use of IT.

Specifically the course aims to enable each student to have the ability to:

1. describe in detail the main PC hardware and system software, including graphical user interface (GUI) operating systems.
2. diagnose malfunctions and bottlenecks related to PC hardware and system software, including GUI operating systems.
3. perform PC hardware upgrades, including selecting new equipment, replacing motherboards, adding control cards and peripheral devices.
4. describe operating systems structure, task and memory management, including multi-tasking GUI operating systems.
5. customize and optimize the use of PC hardware and software resources for specific end-user needs, including memory management, data compression, disk cache and video acceleration.
6. describe peer-to-peer and client-server local area networks (LAN), and perform the installation of simple peer-to-peer LANs.
7. describe and be able to use basic functions of wide-area networks, specifically the Internet.
8. describe basic ethical and copyright law aspects as applied to PCs, and PC system support.
   

The PCs studied in this course are based on Intel and AMD processors. The operating systems studied in this course are Windows XP, VISTA, and Linux. This is neither an endorsement or recommendation of these products. Other processors and operating systems will also be discussed in this course.

CLASS MATERIALS

Class handouts will be available on the Web at the following address of the course syllabus: http://home.ubalt.edu/abento/315

The conversion from points to a letter grade will be relative to the class performance, using the method of grading using a curve. The top 5-10% will receive an A, etc. Read this article on Wikipedia for more details of this method.

Group selection

The projects, special topics, and the presentation are to be done in group (3 students). I created eight groups in WebTycho, please reply to the group you want to join with the subject "yourname joins group y." If a group already has 2 students join another group, if all groups have 2 students, select one to complete 3 in the group. If all groups already have 3 students, please send me an e-mail.

Please note that choosing a group you are also choosing what you will present. Each group will do a PowerPoint presentation of either a project or a special topic. See the list of projects and special topics to see on what a group will do a presentation.

Grading on projects and special topics

Your grade on projects and special topics will depend upon the content and structure of the documentation, and the degree of professionalism demonstrated on its Web page report. Only one group will present in class their report, each time. The ability of each group to present orally in class the materials prepared using Power Point slides will be worth 5% of the final grade. All groups will post an URL (Web page address) of their report in the ASSIGNMENTS folder of WebTycho corresponding to the project or special topic.

Projects [p]

p1. PC diagnostic: use a software diagnostic package (free or demo version found on the Web) to identify characteristics and potential problems of three PCs. Due 09/16. Group 1 presents.

p2. PC assembly: work with volunteers of the MD State Department of Education to assemble working PCs, to be donated to schools with a population of "at-risk" students, from discarded PCs and parts. Due 10/28 Group 4 presents.

p3. Treasure hunting in Windows XP: customize Windows XP. Be sure to consider one item from this article, or from this other article. Due 11/11. Group 5 presents.

p4. Treasure hunting in Linux: Customize Linux. Setup KDE as the desktop environment and adapt it to your needs. Due 12/02. Group 7 presents.

Special topics papers (pr)

pr1. laptops, notebooks: an overview of laptops and notebooks, their differences and similarities to desktops. Due 09/30. Group 2 presents.

pr2. Digital Video and FireWire: capturing images with cellular phones, digital cameras, importing to PCs, editing video sequences. Due 10/14. Group 3 presents.

pr3. Peer-to-peer network: covering both LAN concepts, and Web sharing concepts. Due 11/18. Group 6 presents.

pr4. PC for Windows Vista: select a computer configuration to satisfy the needs and the budget of a user. At least three mail order companies configurations, including price quotations, should be included in the selection. Due 12/09. Group 8 presents.

Mid-Term exam

The mid-term exam will be an on-line multiple choice exam covering all topics discussed up to October 15, including the special topics presented by your peers. The exam opens October 18 in WebTycho and your individual answers are due October 22.

Final exam

The final exam will be an open book, in class, multiple choice literacy exam covering all topics discussed after October 15, including the special topics presented by your peers.

Required:

• Scott Mueller, Upgrading and Repairing PCs, 18th Edition,  Que, 2007. ( )

On reserve:

• Mark Minasi with Quentin Docter and Faithe Wempen, Mastering Windows XP Professional .SYBEX,  3rd ed, 2005. 
• Simpson, Alan, Windows XP bible, 2nd ed.,Wiley Pub., 2005.
• Nemeth, Evi., Snyder, Garth. and Hein, Trent R. Linux administration handbook,2nd ed., Prentice Hall, 2007.
• Welsh, Matt and Kaufman, Lar . Running Linux, 3rd. ed., O'Reilly, 1999

This page is maintained by Al Bento who can be reached at abento@ubalt.edu. This page was last updated on August 14, 2008. Although we will attempt to keep this information accurate, we can not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided.